Halley's Comet - 1P/Halley - Facts & History of the Most Famous CometHalley's Comet periodically passes Earth every 75 years and has been seen for centuries. It was last seen in 1986 and will again near 2062.
Halley's Comet is the only identified short-period comet frequently visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that can appear two times in a human lifetime. Halley's Comet is officially known as 1P/Halley and is called after English astronomer Edmond Halley, who examined stories of a comet approaching Earth in 1531, 1607 and 1682. He concluded that these three comets were the same ones returning repeatedly and predicted they would return in 1758. Halley's calculations showed that at least some comets orbit the sun.
As a "periodic" comet, it returns to Earth's neighbourhood about every 75 years, making it conceivable for a person to see it two times in their lifetime. It was last here in 1986, and during that appearance, Halley's Comet was the first to be observed intimately using a spacecraft.
Halley's comet is thought to have originated from the Kuiper Belt. Blocks of rock and ice, essentially the leftover matter from the formation of the Solar System some 4.6 billion years ago, are pulled deeper into the Solar System and turn into active comets.
Halley's comet is the source of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower. Every year, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of Halley's comet in late April and May, so bits and pieces from this comet light up the nighttime as Eta Aquariid meteors.
When will Halley's Comet next be Visible
Halley is the only identified short-period comet frequently visible to the naked eye from Earth and will next appear between 2061 and 2063. Estimates indicate it will likely be towards the start of 2062.
Halley's Comet Throughout History
The first recognized commentary of Halley's Comet took place in 239 B.C. by Chinese astronomers who recorded its passage within the Shih Chi and Wen Hsien Thung Khao chronicles. Based on models of Halley's orbit, another study pushes that first observation back to 466 B.C., which might have made it visible to the Ancient Greeks.
When Halley's returned in 164 B.C., and again in 87 B.C., it was noted in Babylonian records now housed at the British Museum in London.
It's also thought that some other appearance of Halley's Comet in 1301 may have inspired Italian painter Giotto's rendering of the Star of Bethlehem in "The Adoration of the Magi,"
Halley's most famed appearance happened shortly before the 1066 invasion of England by William the Conqueror. It is claimed that William believed the comet heralded his good fortune. In any case, the comet was put on the Bayeux Tapestry - which chronicles the invasion - in William's honour.
Halley's Comet pass in 1910 was particularly impressive, as the comet flew by about 13.9 million miles (22.4 million kilometres) from Earth, about one-fifteenth the distance between Earth and the sun. On that occasion, Halley's Comet was captured on camera for the first time.
According to biographer Albert Bigelow Paine, the writer Mark Twain said in 1909, "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it." Twain died on April 21, 1910, one day after perihelion, when the comet emerged from the sun's far side.
